Deepest Darkest Secrets
by AngelWarriors
Summary: Heroes/Pathology crossover Claire and Ted talks about their deepest darkest secrets


Title: Deepest Darkest Secrets

Author: Cesia Illuser/Warangel88

Fandom: Heroes/Pathology Crossover

Pairing: Claire/Ted

Warnings: Slightly AU for FYG, Ted might be OOC

Author Notes: Thanks Ellie for betaing

Disclaimer: I don't own Heroes or Pathology

She was a barmaid who worked in the poorer part of town. Beautiful, with dark, chocolate brown hair pulled into a ponytail, wearing a low cut, blood red top that showed off her tanned stomach, with a pair of blue jeans.

She was a bit paranoid though, always looking over her shoulder, but who could really blame her when she worked in the poor part of town, where killings were almost second nature.

It honestly seemed like she, almost fearfully, glanced at the door, almost as if she was expecting someone to come in and take her away.

She especially got nervous around people in suits, of course suits in a place like that were rare; and they never came around these parts.

Perhaps that was when he started to suspect that Sandra McBride, the pretty, dark haired bartender, had a dangerous little secret, like the fact that she might have been a mutant, Metahuman, or whatever the government was calling it those days.

Or perhaps it's when he could have sworn that he saw a wound on her arm magically heal itself together one night. Of course, he supposed he could have blamed it on the alcohol and that the lighting was awful, so he supposed it could have been his imagination.

And it wasn't like it was any of his business if she was one or not, everyone has their dirty little secrets, and he knew there were several skeletons in his closet, mostly from when he played his sick game with Dr. Gallo. Although, he highly doubted his old friend would be playing anything now, much less coming back to haunt him.

Honestly, his kills since Dr. Gallo were rare, but he had a feeling that he would probably get into the old habit of killing if someone tried to hurt or kill this bartender, despite the fact she seemed to be able to handle her own, as he remembered watching her shoot a guy one night, a couple of weeks after he found out that she was a Metahuman.

It was clear that the guy worked for the government, probably one of the few people who had actually managed to track her down, or maybe it was someone else that he tracked down and Sandra just happened to be in his way.

His dark colored eyes silently watched Sandra serve some customer before coming to refill his drink, and he wondered if he should tell her.

"I know that you know my secret," She uttered softly as she refilled his drink, her emerald green eyes slightly meeting his brown ones for a minute.

"How long have you known?" He questioned, drowning the shot of alcohol before setting it back on the wooden counter as her rose glossed lips curled into a slight smile.

"Since the first time you saw me heal," She replied softly, her voice almost a whisper, so the other occupants in the room wouldn't be able to hear, "and I know that you were there in the alley as well when I killed that agent."

He shrugged slightly, studying the brunette, "So had he found out about you?"

"Not me." She answered, "Most likely about the couple behind you."

He slightly glanced behind, watching a young couple converse in low tones before turning his gaze back towards her, "So, is Sandra your real name?"

"Nope," She answered with a small, almost teasing smile as she leaned on the counter, "And I'm not going to tell you my real name, either."

"Is there anyway I can persuade you to change your mind?" He questioned with a small, half crooked smile, and a part of him slightly wondered why he wanted to know her name.

"Perhaps," She smiled at him, her eyes glancing at some drunken customer uttering quite loudly that he wanted another drink. She looked back to him with a small, guilty smile before softly uttering, "Walk me home?"

He nodded, noting that she would tell him a bit more of this conversation. She smiled gratefully at him before moving to help the customer.

"My father used to help people like me," she said softly as they walked down the dark, almost barren streets. Of course, she highly doubted anyone would be walking the streets at two in the morning, "He would give people like me new names and identities."

"Used to?" He questioned softly.

She frowned slightly, "He was murdered by one of the people who work for the government, they were probably looking for me."

"I doubt he blamed you for his death," He voiced softly as she nodded, playing with edge of the dark denim sleeve of her jacket, "But I can help you kill them."

"You've killed before?" She questioned softly, staring at the dark haired man who looked similar to her dead hero. While she might have been friends with Ted Grey, they had never really touched on their personal lives and deepest, darkest secrets until tonight.

"I have," He admitted softly, "A couple of years ago but not for your reasons though."

She nodded slightly, it was clearly obvious that she got the hidden meaning behind his words; he had killed for the fun of it.

"You're not scared?" He questioned slightly, glancing at the brunette next to him, surprise evident in his voice.

She shrugged lightly, "Should I be?"

He silently shook his head before uttering a soft, 'no', and it was the honest truth. He would never do anything to hurt her.

She smiled softly at him, "So, are you going to tell me?"

He sighed softly, "Let's just say it was a game that some of my co-workers got me into a couple of years ago on who could commit the perfect murder."

Claire nodded, recalling his job as a pathologist and she could fill in the blanks from there, silently concluding that the rest of them were dead.

She supposed the game was over now.

"So why would you kill for me?" She questioned softly. She knew that her father would have killed for her if it meant that she would be safe, and perhaps Peter as well. But they were both dead now, whether it was because of the explosion or because they tried to keep her safe.

"Maybe I like you," He uttered softly.

"Maybe," She replied, almost flirtatiously, before she sobered up, remembering that everyone that she had gotten close to the government had killed, "But if you stick around with me you'll probably die a lot sooner."

"I know how to take care of myself," He answered almost vehemently, causing her to stare at him for a moment.

"Maybe you do," She admitted softly, staring into his dark eyes, "But some of the people who work for the government are Metahumans."

She paused slightly, noticing that she was at her apartment building. It was in the nicer part of town, a couple of blocks away from the bar that she worked at, and not too far away from his own apartment.

"So, I'll see you tomorrow?" She questioned softly, pausing in front of her apartment. He nodded, causing her to smile softly. She leaned up to peck him softly on his lips before withdrawing, "My real name is Claire."

He smiled at her as he watched her walk into her apartment. Perhaps this was the beginning of a great relationship.

**-The End**


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